Big Data: who wants it and how do they use it?

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Welcome to an era of online Spooks..

We find ourselves in the predicament of having a strong online presence during the reign of big data. Big data is used by an infinite number of companies who practice data mining to gain an insight into their customers. Three examples have cropped up through research that explain perfectly who are "spying" on you, what they are finding out and what they are using that juicy information for.

“You are shedding data everywhere”

John. D. Podesta (Whitehouse adviser)

Common practice amongst supermarkets for a long while has been to gather consumer purchase information creating a database. This information then has algorithms applied to it which finds patterns in purchase behaviour, giving the supermarket an indication as to which products might interest you in the future. Sounds okay so far I guess? I mean I love a good discount.

Here comes the part I’d call intrusive, what happens when the local supermarket knows intimate details about you before your family and friends have a chance to? This is a scenario a US father found himself in when Target used big data to tailor coupons for baby and maternity products for his teenage daughter. Find out more here.

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Similarly Netflix scrutinized subscriber’s preferences to tailor their original content for a surefire hit with selected large audiences, an example being the popular political thriller House of Cards.

The third case in point echoes the Bothers Grimm´s tale of Hansel and Gretel. We literally click our personal information away when we accept the terms of service in exchange for the use of tasty free services, take Google for example.

Data collection isn’t limited to online but also card transactions and loyalty cards, with most information being sold to third parties unless otherwise stated. Big data isn’t all that bad though. It can mean we save some money from discounts adapted to our needs and it can make our online shopping experience significantly more convenient through personalised ads that follow us around as we navigate the internet (Casaló et al, 2008).

Casaló, L. V., Flavián, C., & Guinalíu, M. (2008). The role of satisfaction and website usability in developing customer loyalty and positive word-of-mouth in the e-banking services. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 26(6), 399-417.